Influence of the breeding system on the escape response of red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa)

This study aimed to determine the influence of the breeding system on the escape response of red-legged partridges comparing 147 free-born partridges captured in the wild (W) and 164 partridges from a commercial hunting farm with an intensive production system (F). All birds were individually released to the natural environment using wooden cages; the escape response was recorded with a high resolution video camera and 4 behavior parameters were analyzed: reaction time or latency, escape type, angle at the moment of flight start, and distance flown. There were significant differences on the mean reaction time depending on the origin of the partridges: 0.43 s, with a maximum of 9 s, for the W and 52.90 s, with a maximum of 120 s, in 32.3% of the F birds. Only one of the W partridges (0.68%) escaped by walking, whereas all the other W birds, and 69.5% of the F partridges, flew; the differences in the type of escape reaction between origins were significant. Considering the angle of flight start, the differences were also significant because 98.6% of W partridges showed less than 45 degrees angles, whereas 37.7% of F birds showed angles of more than 45 degrees. Thus, we can conclude that the breeding system has a great influence on the escape response of the red-legged partridges. The intensive management production systems used on the commercial game farms produced obvious changes in the escape reaction of the red-legged partridges, and this could explain the low ability of these birds to integrate and to survive in the wild due to the high predation pressure they undergo when they are used in repopulation processes.